Kickstart This: Ambitious, Mind-Exploring Sci-Fi Film 'Mnemosyne'

Welcome back to another edition of Kickstart This, FirstShowing's weekly column dedicated to spreading the word about indie projects around the world that need your help to become a reality. With Looper out in theaters today, it's fitting that this week we're featuring an original science fiction project. This one's called Mnemosyne, a bold, ambitious look into the internal workings of memory and the human mind. But their campaign expires a few hours from now, so check out the video below, support the filmmakers if you can, and then come back and leave us a comment letting us know what you think. Support this project!

For me, the most interesting part of the Assassin's Creed video game series (which Michael Fassbender is developing as its own movie) is the concept of essentially being able to hack into someone else's memories and sort of relive specific occurrences. Mnemosyne delves into some of the same territory, as it follows a regular man chosen to replace a great, dying world leader, as he uses a mysterious machine to examine the leader's memories and discover why he was chosen to replace him.

Though the pitch is comprised of only storyboards, the production design here looks fantastic, with shades of Minority Report throw in and a futuristic design coupled with a grounded sense of reality during the exploration of the mind. The filmmakers worked with graduates of the Art Center College of Design (which counts Star Wars designer Ralph McQuarrie and Blade Runner visionary Syd Mead as alumni) to craft a believable, tangible world for this, and it's clear director Malcolm Klock has a distinct idea for his vision:

As a director I think of myself as a world builder, crafting an aesthetic and emotional experience for the audience. Mnemosyne is a world that has been in my head for many years, an obsession, and one I've always dreamed of bringing to the screen.

There are obvious correlations to Inception that can be made when you look at the story (diving into the mind, etc.), but you can draw comparisons and track influences all day; the important thing, as with most science fiction, is that this project looks to use the cooler aspects of the genre to get at a human story of discovery and tackle some of life's bigger questions that are seemingly best explored through a sci-fi lens. Take a look at their pitch video below, and support this film if you can, as soon as you can!

For more on Mnemosyne, or to help fund the project, visit its Kickstarter page. Malcolm Klock and his team are hoping to raise $30,000 by this Saturday, September 29th. Try to help support them if you can, but if you're all out of cash, perhaps you could do them a solid by spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, introducing yourselves to to strangers on the street and telling them about it… you know, the usual.

That's all for this week's edition of Kickstart This. We're constantly looking for feedback, so please sound off with any suggestions for this column in the comments below or better yet, shoot me an e-mail at: BenPears85@gmail.com. My personal inbox is always open, and I've received some fantastic suggestions from you guys, so keep firing any worthwhile Kickstarter or IndieGoGo projects my way and there's a chance you'll end up seeing them featured in a future column. As always, I want to thank you guys for supporting these indie projects, because they definitely couldn't exist without without the help of film lovers just like you. For our complete Kickstart This archive of past projects, visit here. What do you think?